Iran: Alarm at violent arrest of women's rights activist Shadi Sadr

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Friday July 17, 2009 17:05 by Malcolm Smart - Amnesty international, UK

Arrest fuels fear that wave of arrests is intensifying

Amnesty International fears the wave of arrests of civil society activists in Iran is intensifying after the leading lawyer and women's human rights activist Shadi Sadr was violently arrested in Tehran this morning on her way to Friday prayers.

Shadi Sadr was walking with a group of women's rights activists along a busy road when unidentified plain-clothed men pulled her into a car. She lost her headscarf and coat in the ensuing struggle but managed briefly to escape. She was quickly recaptured and beaten with batons before being taken away in the car to an unknown location.

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Director Malcolm Smart said:

'This was an illegal, arbitrary and violent arrest in which no attempt was made by the authorities to show identification or provide any explanation for their action.

'This is the latest of a continuing series of high-profile arrests of Iranians - students, journalists, intellectuals, political and civil society activists - in the wake of protests over the disputed outcome of the presidential election.'

Amnesty International is calling for Shadi Sadr to be immediately and unconditionally released.

Ms Sadr is the defence lawyer of Shiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights defender and member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, who was arrested at her home in Tehran on 14 June, shortly after the presidential election. She is now believed to be held in Section 209 of Tehran's Evin Prison where Ms Sadr, her lawyer, had not been able to gain access to her.

Background

Shadi Sadr, lawyer and journalist, was the director of Raahi, a legal advice centre for women until it was closed down. She founded Zanan-e Iran (Women of Iran), the first website dedicated to the work of Iranian women's rights activists (www.raahi.org) and has written extensively about Iranian women and their legal rights.

She has represented activists and journalists, and several women sentenced to execution whose convictions were subsequently overturned. She is also involved in Women's Field (www.meydaan.com), a group of women's rights activists who have launched several campaigns to defend women's rights, including the "Stop Stoning Forever" Campaign.